Any attempt by China to give bogus names to locations on Indian territory will undermine existing efforts to stabilise and normalise bilateral ties, India said today in a forceful response to accusations that China has been assigning fictitious names to some of these areas.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, stated that India "categorically rejects any mischievous attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India."Such attempts by China to introduce fraudulent claims and fabricate spurious narratives cannot change the irrefutable fact that these locations and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India," Jaiswal said.

The MEA warned that China's measures "detract from ongoing efforts to stabilise and normalise India-China bilateral ties.""China should refrain from actions that sour relations and undermine efforts to improve understanding," Jaiswal added.
Following the Galwan standoff in May 2020, India and China have engaged in negotiations to ease tensions over the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Analysts and top officials have frequently alluded to China's long-term policy of influencing narratives across the LAC through border infrastructure, dual-use settlements, and place renaming.

Back in May 2025 too, the MEA said it noticed that China had persisted with its "vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh."

"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," Jaiswal said in May 2025.